SOUNDS AROUND TOWN: Newton native John Cate continues his welcome home shows at The Burren

By Ed Symkus, Correspondent

Wednesday

Jun 13, 2018 at 4:39 PMJun 13, 2018 at 4:57 PM

There’s no proper, all-encompassing term for the music of John Cate, the Newton native who spent the past five years in Los Angeles, but recently moved back east, settling in Waltham. Cate would probably be fine with the umbrella label “pop-Americana,” as that’s a good description of the set of original songs the singer-guitarist will be presenting with his trio members – guitarist Paul Candilore and bass man Clayton Young – at the Burren in Somerville on June 16.

Cate first gained notice in these parts playing bass as part of the jazz-influenced band Zamcheck (led by Newton pianist-composer Mark Zamcheck) in the early-1970s. He later released albums under his own name, as well as by the John Cate Band and by the van Gogh Brothers. The move westward happened after Cate’s friend, record producer Anthony Resta, turned him on to Heavy Hitters Publishing, which specializes in getting music on TV shows and in films.

A prolific songwriter, Cate has had his work appear on, among others, “NCIS,” “The Young and the Restless,” “Melrose Place,” and “Numb3rs.”

“I went out there because I have a lot of music on television, and I decided the most radical thing I could do to preserve and expand that career was to show up in person,” said Cate. “And it worked. Heavy Hitters has 80 or 90 of my songs, and that’s been very lucrative for me.”

California also saw the founding of the five-piece band Voices of van Gogh, led by Cate and vocalist Scarlet Rivera, which has been referred to as the “L.A.-based version of the van Gogh Brothers.” So why did he come back to Boston?

“Mostly because of lifestyle,” he said.

“I lived in Malibu, which is fabulous, but you’re sort of trapped in paradise,” he added, in a not-so-veiled reference to L.A.’s notorious traffic.

Upon his return here last November, Cate started playing out at his old stomping grounds, the Worcester bar Vincent’s, and has been sticking with the trio format.

“We decided to strip [the van Gogh Brothers] down to the core group, which is me, Paul and Clay, and really sort of dig into what, for us, would be deep tracks. For everybody else, they’re all deep,” he said, laughing. “So, it’s more of the stuff that we don’t play very often, focusing heavily on three-part harmonies. We’re also playing a lot of brand new stuff live.”

That’s a hint at his habitual songwriting. Cate, whose first instrument was cello, which led to the bass, started singing and playing when he was 9, shortly after seeing the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” He began writing about three years later, and is still at it.

In an interview I did with him about 15 years ago, he said, “I write a lot of music. I write a lot of quantity, and out of that quantity I get a little bit of quality.”

Asked for his thoughts on that quote now, he again laughed, and said, “That’s still true. I write a song until it’s done, and I always finish it. It’s like calisthenics: I’m exercising, and then when the inspiration comes, I’m ready for it.

“I don’t know if writing was ever hard for me,” he added. “But I certainly have worked at my craft, and I like to think I’ve improved as a writer.”

Told that his melodic and longing country-tinged ballad “Don’t Leave Me Lonely” (you can find a version on YouTube) is a terrific song, he offered up a couple of heartfelt thank yous, then said, “The van Gogh Brothers are six or seven tracks deep into a new record right now, and that’s going to be one of them."

The John Cate Trio plays as part of the Backroom Series at the Burren in Somerville on June 16 at 7 p.m. Brendan Hogan opens. Tickets: $16. Info: 617-776-6896.

Upcoming concerts and club dates

June 16:

Alt-rockers (with a Cuban edge) the Mavericks have a show at Indian Ranch in Webster. (2 p.m.)

Former Boston-based band Dumptruck, now settled in Austin, plays tunes from their new album “Wrecked” at Once Ballroom in Somerville. (8 p.m.)